Microemulsions-A Review

International Journal of Pharmaceutics and Drug Analysis

Microemulsions, comprising oil, water and a surfactant, in association with some co-surfactant, are thermodynamically stable systems. They have found applications in a large number of chemical and pharmacological processes due to their unique properties such as large interfacial area, low interfacial tension, and most importantly, the ability to solubilize and deliver hydrophobic drugs. Microemulsions are ore, topical and parenteral administration. Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable. Microemulsions are clear, thermodynamically stable isotropic liquid mixtures of oil, water and surfactant, frequently in combination with a cosurfactant. This review highlights the properties and several recent developments in the use of microemulsions for medical treatment purposes including targeted drug delivery.

Research Journal of Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Technology, 2018

Microemulsions are defined as clear, transparent, thermodynamically stable, isotropic mixtures of oil and water, frequently in combination with a co-surfactant. Recently microemulsion formulations are widely used for the delivery of hydrophilic as well as lipophilic drug as drug carriers due to their improved drug solubilisation capacity, long shelf life, ease of preparation and improvement of bioavailability. In this present review, we will discuss about the various advantages of microemulsion in pharmaceuticals, along with its preparation, classification, evaluation parameters and research work carried out on microemulsions.

2014

Microemulsions are defined as clear, transparent, thermodynamically stable, isotropic mixtures of oil and water, frequently in combination with a co-surfactant. Recently microemulsion formulations are widely used for the delivery of hydrophilic as well as lipophilic drug as drug carriers due to their improved drug solubilisation capacity, long shelf life, ease of preparation and improvement of bioavailability. In this present review, we will discuss about the various advantages of microemulsion in pharmaceuticals, along with its preparation, classification, evaluation parameters and research work carried out on microemulsions.

Microemulsions are one of the best candidates as novel drug delivery system because of their long shelf life, improved drug solubilization with ease of preparation and administration. Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable and optically isotropic liquid solutions of oil, water and amphiphile. They have emerged as novel vehicles for drug delivery which allow controlled or sustained release for ocular, percutaneous, topical, transdermal, and parenteral administration of medicaments. Microemulsions can be easily distinguished from normal emulsions by their low viscosity, transparency and more accurately their thermodynamic stability. Microemulsions have great range of applications and uses such as in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, cutting oils, biotechnology, food, cosmetics, analytical applications, environmental detoxification etc. The main objective of this review paper is to discuss microemulsions as drug carrier system with other possible applications.

International Journal of Drug Delivery Technology, 2009

Microemulsions are clear, transparent, thermodynamically stable dispersions of oil and water, stabilized by an interfacial film of surfactant frequently in combination with a co-surfactant. Recently, there has been a considerable interest for the microemulsion formulation, for the delivery of hydrophilic as well as lipophilic drug as drug carriers because of its improved drug solubilization capacity, long shelf life, easy of preparation and improvement of bioavailability. In this present review, we discuss about the various advantages of microemulsion in pharmaceuticals, along with its preparation, evaluation and research work carried out on microemulsions.

International Journal of Indigenous Herbs and Drugs

Microemulsions are excellent candidates as potential drug delivery systems because of their improved drug solubilization, long shelf life, and ease of preparation and administration. The formulation of microemulsion for pharmaceutical use requires a thorough understanding of the properties uses, and limitations of the microemulsion. Three distinct microemulsions – oil external, water external and middle phase can be used for drug delivery, depending upon the type of drug delivery upon the type of drug and the site of action. In this article, Since the term micro emulsion’ was first coined almost fifty years ago to describe clear, isotropic, thermodynamically stable systems composed of oil, water, surfactant and cosurfactant, numerous and varied reports of the applications of microemulsions have appeared in the literature. Reports of the use of microemulsions in separation science began to appear in the literature in the early 1990’s when they were first used as mobile phases for HPL...

Frontiers in Nanotechnology, 2021

Microemulsions, comprising oil, water and a surfactant, in association with some co-surfactant, are thermodynamically stable systems. They have found applications in a large number of chemical and pharmacological processes due to their unique properties such as large interfacial area, low interfacial tension, and most importantly, the ability to solubilize and deliver hydrophobic drugs. In addition to the oral and intravenous route, they are suitable for drug delivery through the ophthalmic, vaginal, pulmonary, dental, and topical routes. This review highlights the properties and several recent developments in the use of microemulsions for medical treatment purposes including targeted drug delivery.

Since the discovery of microemulsions by Jack H. Shulman, there have been huge progresses made in applying microemulsion syst ems in a plethora of research and industrial processes. Microemulsions are clear, stable, isotropic mixtures of oil, water and surfactant, frequently in combination with a cosurfactant. Microemulsions are optically isotropic and thermodynamically stable liquid solutions of oil, water and amphiphile. To date microemulsions have been shown to be able to protect labile drug, control drug release, increase drug solubility, increase bioavailability and reduce patient variability. Furthermore, it has proven possible to formulate preparations suitable for most routes of administration. Since the discovery of microemulsions, they have attained increasing significance both in basic research and in industry. Due to their unique proper ties, namely, ultralow interfacial tension, large interfacial area, thermodynamic stability and the ability to solubilise otherwise immiscible liquids, uses and applications of microemulsions have been numerous. Microemulsions are readily distinguished from normal emulsions by their transparency, low viscosity and more fundamentally their thermodynamic stability. Microemulsions are shown to be effective dermal delivery mechanism for several active ingredients for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. Topical microemulsions allow rapid penetration of active molecules due to the large surface area of the internal phase, and their components reduce the barrier property of stratum corneum. Microemulsions thereby enhance dermal absorption compared with conventional formulations and are therefore a promising vehicle due to their pot ential for transdermal drug delivery.

Recent progress in combinatorial drug has led to the generation of a large number of new compounds. microemulsions are versatile systems of great technological and scientific interest to the researchers because of their potential to incorporate a wide range of drug molecules (hydrophilic and hydrophobic) due to the presence of both lipophilic and hydrophilic domains. A micro emulsion is a transparent, thermodynamically stable mixture of two immiscible liquid stabilized by surfactant (or mixture of surfactant). Microemulsions have many advantages for instance, more drug solubility, thermodynamic stability, manufacturing and permeation is easy over conventional formulations that convert them to important drug delivery systems. The design and development of microemulsions aimed at controlling or improving required bioavailability levels of therapeutic agents. Through this review an attempt has been made to focus on several recent developments occurred in the field of microemulsions based applications and which confirms its role as a suitable cargoes for delivery of drugs. In that note, the relevance of this paper and the truncated basic aspects and application on microemulsions are discussed.

Therapeutic Delivery, 2013

Microemulsions (MEs) are thermodynamically stable, optically transparent isotropic solutions of oil and water successfully formulated by using a combination of suitable surfactant and cosurfactant. While the selection of oil is based primarily on the solubility of drug in it, surfactant is generally selected on the basis of its hydrophilic–lipophilic balance value. MEs are characterized by ultra-low interfacial tension between the immiscible phases and offer the advantage of spontaneous formation, thermodynamic stability and ease of manufacture. The solubilization power of MEs for lipophilic, hydrophilic and amphiphilic solutes form a viable approach for enhancing bioavailability of hydrophobic drugs and percutaneous permeation of poorly permeable drugs, mainly due to the large area to volume ratio available for mass transfer.